tribewar

cats, crafts, tattoos, psychobabbel

[pussyhoundspock]

it's like i dont even want to talk about it but do you remember when they rebooted the karate kid franchise to be about the bully from the first movie who was now a poor washed up alcoholic deadbeat dad and gave him the craziest pyrrhic victory where he got everything he ever wanted and thought would fix his life (beating daniel larusso at the all valley under 18 karate tournament once and for all) but the only thing that happened was his worst nightmare and abusive father figure wandered back in and also he realized that his victory only pushed him further away from his son (symbolic of how him clinging to this fight and this loss through three decades only alientated him from his actual support network and destroyed his real relationships) and now he knows that beating daniel larusso never would've fixed anything and he has to do the hard work of growing and changing on his own but with his life in worse condition than its ever been in? and also he's bisexual?

[philcollinsenjoyer]

about 90% of fanfiction takes place in a utopia where men are thoughtful and unsure of their place in the world

[txttletale]

if we’ve been mutuals for long enough i don’t even care what you post anymore. if one of my mutuals of two years suddenly gets really into competitive caber toss i just accept zenlike that half my dash is going to be gifsets of burly men hefting logs forever now. i adapt to all online conditions like an animal with high toxicity tolerance

[lyraaorion]

claim your badge here!

[tribewar]

Ju

[cocainejuul]

I hope everyone grows tired of being cruel to each other soon

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

if you comment some demanding shit like this on fanfic writers’ works, you don’t deserve the privilege of getting to read fanfiction for free

[mamawasatesttube]

the thing about media literacy is that understanding why the author chose to specify that the curtains are blue is the same skill set as understanding that the way the author characterizes all black characters as angry or all chinese characters as meek and silent is racist. it is the same skill set as being able to identify when a news source is biased or when someone is feeding you propaganda. the ability to ask "why did this person choose to present this premise in this specific way?" is a critical skill in a world full of misinformation. why are the curtains blue? maybe it's a characterization detail. maybe it's extraneous worldbuilding. why is this character written as being right all the time? maybe you're intended to disagree with them. maybe it doesn't matter. maybe you should still ask why.

[miwiheroes]

AO3 SPEAK TO ME COME BACK TO US AO3 COME BACK BREATH BREATHE

[longtransfer]

[saying]

[catchymemes]

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

what ao3 would look like with ads. no, you do not want this. support ao3 because it’s one of the last few places on the internet that is not tainted by capitalism bullshit. support ao3 because it’s one of the last few places on the internet that is genuinely about the connection between audiences, artists, their works and the love/passion artists have for what they do

[michellethebrave]

How it feels to desperately wait for a new chapter of "talk to me dirty; talk to me sweet"

[groucholiv]

Drew Gooden posting a video tearing into the duffer brothers and their hilarious fumble of finale genuinely made my week

[alwaystightrope]

[my-castles-crumbling]

same

[wcndertwins]

not enough talk about lucas geeking out over will’s powers and calling him will the wise

[eeriesilkworm]

No, there is no secret ending. Yes, the weird fourth wall breaking and Truman references are still intentional.

The point is, Mike Wheeler the storyteller is unhappy with his ending, and that's why he's a storyteller. He'd rather write fiction than live his reality. He is the narrator of this story, and always has been. He has little to no interiority because he's not supposed to be a character in this story. He's just there. Will and Jane are the main characters.

The show always used recurring door imagery and metaphor, and we are told quite explicitly which doors Jane, Mike, and Will chose in the end. Jane chose the first (death), Mike chose the second (acceptance of fate), and Will chose the third (escape).

Jane represents childhood magic apparently, and although I feel her character was done injustice, I can dig a character being tied to an allegorical concept. So really, that means Jane was an allegory in Mike's story. Perhaps representing childhood wonder, first loves, and innocence? Therefore her death signifies the loss of childhood, and even the death of love itself.

Mike imagines an ending where She (magic, wonder, love) lives on. She's free but she's also isolated. On her own like that, it's not so different to being kept in Mike's basement or Hopper's cabin. Mike must associate something very shameful to these concepts, otherwise he wouldn't constantly hide her away in his story, despite loving her so much.

Still, he wants to believe in this alternative ending where Jane, who is love, and innocence, and magic, lives on in relative peace. He implies that simply believing it can make it true. Will believes too. They share a meaningful look before being interrupted by an opened door, and it's their last ever interaction on-screen.

No, there is no secret ending. There are many endings, and it's just that we've only been shown one of them. The bittersweet one. Mike killed magic, first love, and childhood wonder. Then he gave Will the good ending. Mike thinks the good ending is having Will no longer love him, and sending him far away from him.

Finally, he chose the second door. This means he didn't write the ending he wanted, but the ending he felt he deserved. He will never tell the true story of the mage. As in, he will never clarify what Jane actually represented, and what her death truly meant to him.